Perpetual Challenges

A Non-Fiction Adventure(click the link above for full details and sign-up info)
Time frame/Goal Dates: January 3, 2016 - January 3, 2026

The List
Categorized, but in no particular order. I own every book on this list.

Biography/Memoir
1. Art and Madness: A Memoir of Lust without Reason by Anne Roiphe
2. David Bowie: Starman by Paul Trynka
3. Benjamin Franklin by Edmund S. Morgan
4. Catherine the Great by Robert K. Massie
5. John Adams by David McCullough
6. King Arthur by Norma Lorre Goodrich
7. Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women by Harriet RiesenRead 2015 - not reviewed
8. Lucrezia Borgia by Sarah BradfordAlison Weir
9. Mary Boleyn: The Mistress of Kings (Weir)
10. Queen Isabella (Weir)
11. The Princes in the Tower (Weir)
12. Marie Antoinette by Evelyne Lever
13. Poe: A Life Cut Short by Peter Ackroyd
15. Vincent Price by Victoria Price
16. Eleanor of Aquitaine: A Biography by Marion Meade
17. Will in the World by Stephen Greenblatt
18. The Brothers Grimm: Two Lives, One Legacy by Donald R. HettingaRead 2015 - not reviewed
19. Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire by Amanda Foreman
20. The Girl Who Walked Home Alone: Bette Davis-A Personal Biography by Charlotte Chandler
21. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
22. A Rip in Heaven: A Memoir of Murder and Its Aftermath by Jeanine Cummins
23. Madame de Pompadour by Nancy Mitford
24. Tolstoy and the Purple Chair by Nina Sankovitch
25. Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup
26. All Roads Lead to Austen: A Yearlong Journey with Jane by Amy Elizabeth Smith
27. Jane's Fame: How Jane Austen Conquered the World by Claire Harman
28. The Opposite of Fate: Memories of a Writing Life by Amy Tan
29. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand

Customs/Folklore/Mythology
30. Sagas of Icelanders
31. In Search of Dracula: History of Dracula and Vampires by Raymond T. McNally and Radu Florescu
32. Mythology by Edith Hamilton

History
33. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown
34. The Burning of Bridget Cleary by Angela Bourke
35. Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
36. In the Footsteps of Alexander by Michael Wood
37. The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston
38. The Murder of Helen Jewitt by Patricia Cline Cohen
39. The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester
40. The Queen's Necklace by Frances Mossiker
41. Starvation Heights by Gregg Olsen Read2015 - not reviewed
42. She-Wolves by Helen Castor
43. The Vikings by Robert Ferguson
44. The Life and Death of a Druid Prince by Anne Ross and Don Robins
45. Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick
46. The Gangs of New York by Herbert Asbury
47. Royal Panoply: Brief Lives of the English Monarchs by Carolly Erickson
48. The Ancient Celts by Barry Cunliffe
49. Chronicle of the Roman Republic by Philip Matyszak
50. Chronicle of the Pharaohs by Peter A. Clayton
51. Imagining Atlantis by Richard Ellis
52. Finding Atlantis: A True Story of Genius, Madness, and an Extraordinary Quest for a Lost World by David King
53. The Vanished Library: A Wonder of the Ancient World by Luciano Canfora
54. The Year 1000: What Life Was Like at the Turn of the First Millennium by Robert Lacey and Danny Danziger
55. How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill
56. Fingerprints of the Gods by Graham Hancock
57. The Enemy Within: 2000 Years of Witch Hunting in the Western World by John Demos
58. The Salem Witch Trials: A Day by Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege by Marilynne K. Roach
59. The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time by John Kelly
60. The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann
61. The Histories by Herodotus
62. Frozen in Time: An Epic Story of Survival and a Modern Quest for Lost Heroes of World War II by Mitchell Zuckoff
63. Lost in Shangri-la: A True Story of Survival, Adventure, and the Most Incredible Rescue Mission of World War II by Mitchell Zuckoff
64. In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick

Parapsychology/Occultism
65. A History of Ghosts by Peter Ackroyd
66. On Haunted Ground: The Green Ghost and Other Spirits of Cemetery Road by Lisa Rogers
67. Grave's End by Elaine Mercado

Religion
73. Living the Secular Life by Phil Zuckerman
74. Forged: Writing in the Name of God by Bart D. Ehrman
75. God's Problem by Bart D. Ehrman
76. Holy Blood, Holy Grail by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, and Harry Lincoln
77. The Jesus Mysteries by Tim Freke and Peter Gandy
78. The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins
79. Hostage to the Devil: The Possession and Exorcism of Five Contemporary Americans by Malachi Martin
80. Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism: A Bishop Rethinks the Meaning of Scripture by John Shelby Spong
81. Jesus for the Non-Religious by John Shelby Spong

Science
82. Blood Work: A Tale of Medicine and Murder by Holly Tucker
83. Gods, Graves, and Scholars: The Story of Archaeology by C.W. Ceram
84. The Future of Life by Edward O. Wilson
85. The Illustrated Origin of Species by Charles Darwin--Abridged and Introduced by Richard E. Leakey (will read in conjunction with the original Origin of Species)
86. Only a Theory: Evolution and the Battle for America's Soul by Kenneth R. Miller
87. The Lost Tomb by Kent R. Weeks, Ph.D.
88. The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution by Richard Dawkins
89. Neanderthal: Neanderthal Man and the Story of Human Origins by Paul Jordan
90. Dinosaur Hunters: Eccentric Amateurs and Obsessed Professionals by David A.E. Spalding

Travel/Geography
91. Venice: Pure City by Peter Ackroyd

Women's Studies
92. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft
93. A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf
94. Women Who Run with the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype by Clarissa Pinkola Estes

Miscellaneous
95. 13 Ways of Looking at the Novel by Jane Smiley
96. The Secret History of the World by Mark Booth
97. History of American Literature by Reuben Post Halleck, MA (my edition was printed in 1911! It's a wonderful old book.)

Additions or Alternates
98. Werewolf by Montague Summers
99. Vampires and Vampirism by Montague Summers
100. The Twelve Caesars by Suetonius
101. Gospel Fictions by Randall Helms
102. Temples, Tombs & Hieroglyphs: A Popular History of Ancient Egypt by Barbara Mertz
103. Good Wives: Image and Reality in the Lives of Women in Northern New England, 1650-1750 by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

The Fantasy Project: 101 Books in 10 Years(click the link above for full details and sign-up info)
Time frame/Goal Dates: August 15, 2013 - August 15, 2023 Starting over with a revised list and new dates - January 15, 2019 - January 15, 2029

69. Seventh Son/The Last Apprentice (Book 1, Revenge of the Witch, and Book 2, Curse of the Bane), Joseph Delaney

70. Red Queen, Victoria Aveyard

71. The Greyfriar, Clay/Susan Griffith

72. The Riftwalker, Clay/Susan Griffith

73. The King Makers, Clay/Susan Griffith

74. The Twelve, Justin Cronin

75. Ragnarok: The End of the Gods, A.S. Byatt

76. The Magicians, Lev Grossman

77. The Magician King, Lev Grossman

78. The Fall, Bethany Griffin

79. The King of Bones and Ashes, J.D. Horn

80. Prospero Lost, L. Jagi Lamplighter

81. Prospero in Hell, L. Jagi Lamplighter

82. Prospero Regained, L. Jagi Lamplighter

83. Circe, Madeline Miller

84. The Bone Clocks, David Mitchell

85. Slade House, David Mitchell

86. The Bone Season, Samantha Shannon

87. The White Mare, Jules Watson

88. The Dawn Stag, Jules Watson

89. The Swan Maiden, Jules Watson

90. Hotel Transylvania, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

91. The Map of Time, Felix J. Palma

92. The Map of the Sky, Felix J. Palma

93. The Giver, Lois Lowry

94. Frankenstein, Mary Shelley

95. Necroscope, Brian Lumley

96. Arthur the King, Allan Massie

97. The Lives of the Monster Dogs, Kirsten Bakis

98. Ice, Sarah Beth Durst

99. Dragonlance Chronicles (1-3 omnibus), Margaret Weis/Tracy Hickman

100. The River of No Return, Bee Ridgway

101. Something Red, Douglas Nicholas

The Never-Ending Anne Rice Challenge (perpetual challenge)(click the link above for full details and sign-up info)
Read all the Anne Rice books! Books I've read are in red.(Shocking that I have not read them all since she's my favorite author.)

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Currently Reading

Oryx and Crake
Margaret Atwood

This is Margaret Atwood at the absolute peak of her powers. For readers of "Oryx and Crake," nothing will ever look the same again.
With breathtaking command of her shocking material, and with her customary sharp wit and dark humour, Atwood projects us into an outlandish yet wholly believable realm populated by characters who will continue to inhabit our dreams long after the last chapter. This is Margaret Atwood at the absolute peak of her powers.

In Brooklyn, New York, in 1927, Carl Brown and Annie McGairy meet and fall in love. Though only eighteen, Annie travels alone to the Midwestern university where Carl is studying law to marry him. Little did they know how difficult their first year of marriage would be, in a faraway place with little money and few friends. But Carl and Annie come to realize that the struggles and uncertainty of poverty and hardship can be overcome by the strength of a loving, loyal relationship. An unsentimental yet uplifting story, Joy in the Morning is a timeless and radiant novel of marriage and young love.

Currently listening to

Northanger Abbey
Jane Austen

Jane Austen's first novel—published posthumously in 1818—tells the story of Catherine Morland and her dangerously sweet nature, innocence, and sometime self-delusion. Though Austen's fallible heroine is repeatedly drawn into scrapes while vacationing at Bath and during her subsequent visit to Northanger Abbey, Catherine eventually triumphs, blossoming into a discerning woman who learns truths about love, life, and the heady power of literature. The satirical novel pokes fun at the gothic novel while earnestly emphasizing caution to the female sex.

TBR PILE (the tip of the iceberg)

If books could have more, give more, be more, show more, they would still need readers who bring to them sound and smell and light and all the rest that can’t be in books.The book needs you.~Gary Paulsen

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Favorite Authors

Which Jane Austen heroine are you?

Which literary heroine are you?

You are Josephine March from "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott. Opinionated and outspoken, your bold nature can sometimes get you into trouble. You must constantly make a conscious decision to seem gentler to people when you first meet them -- those who do not know you well can sometimes find your passion abrasive or overly aggressive. The happiness of others is your greatest source for happiness of your own -- you want nothing more than to provide for your family and friends, to make them happy.

Which Downton Abbey Character Am I?

You are Lady Sybil Crawley. The youngest daughter of Lord Grantham, you’re compassionate, strong, and really concerned about social justice. You’d also like to be able to vote. The bravest and most idealistic member of your family, you’re the most likely to end up at a political rally, try and help a servant to a better job, or scandalize your sisters by wearing pants to a party.

Which historical person are you most like?

You are Boudicca, Queen of the Iceni people and fiery leader of an uprising against the Romans in England. You don’t turn away from a fight. In fact, you go looking for one if someone tries to tell you what to do. You’re a natural leader, a vicious opponent, and you look great swinging a sword.

Who would I be in 1400 AD?

Your result for The Who Would You Be in 1400 AD Test...

The Knight

You scored 34% Cardinal, 44% Monk, 38% Lady, and 57% Knight!

You are the hero. Brave and bold. You are strong and utterly selfless. You are also a pawn to your superiors and will be lucky if you live very long. If you survive the Holy wars you are thrust into you will be praised for your valor and opportunities both romantic and financial will become available to you.

Which classic dame am I?

Your result for The Classic Dames Test...

Katharine Hepburn

You scored 21% grit, 24% wit, 52% flair, and 19% class!

You are the fabulously quirky and independent woman of character. You go your own way, follow your own drummer, take your own lead. You stand head and shoulders next to your partner, but you are perfectly willing and able to stand alone. Others might be more classically beautiful or conventionally woman-like, but you possess a more fundamental common sense and off-kilter charm, making interesting men fall at your feet. You can pick them up or leave them there as you see fit. You share the screen with the likes of Spencer Tracy and Cary Grant, thinking men who like strong women.

The sorting hat says...

SOME OF THE BOOKS I HAVE READ

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